The Errol of My Ways
by Dragonessa Smith
Summary: After sending Errol off with a letter to Hermione, Ron reflects on exactly what he did wrong...or right.


The Errol of My Ways  
  
A/N: I blame Juana Maria for making me write another R/H. I blame myself for the horrible pun in the title. I blame Evan and Jaron for the absolutely fitting song.  
  
I got to see Diamond Rio a while ago at our county fair. I had no idea who they were, but my friend invited me. They sing that 'One more day...' song.   
  
Poetic License Alert: This whole story is a mix of flashbacks and the present. If anything seems horribly out-of-place, it's probably a flashback.  
  
"Okay, Errol, go now, before I lose my nerve and rethink this." I muttered, pushing him off the window ledge. I didn't trust Pig for this. No, this is too important.  
  
I watched him fly off into the sunset, corny as it sounds. I almost called him back. I hope he doesn't show at three in the morning and scare Hermione.  
  
Hermione...  
  
I can't believe that after all this time, all the waiting and longing and wishing and hiding, all that's going to end with one bit of parchment and an ancient owl...  
  
What if he doesn't make it? What if he lands in the wrong place? What if someone else reads that-  
  
"Errol!" I cried, racing to the window. "Come back!"  
  
But he's already gone.  
  
I sank onto my bed, sighing. I hope she doesn't get too freaked out. To imagine, this whole mess started almost six years ago, on that stupid train...  
  
She rolls the window down  
  
And she talks over the sound  
  
Of the cars that pass ups by  
  
And I don't' know why  
  
But she's changed my life  
  
I was sitting alone in the compartment, Harry having gone in search of a bathroom after a few too many pumpkin juices.  
  
The compartment door slid open.  
  
"Have you seen a-" It was her again. Hermione Granger. "Oh, I've already asked you, haven't I? Still no toad, then?"  
  
"None to speak of." I grinned at her.  
  
"Ha." She sounded distracted. "Er, are you...does your family have a lot of witches and wizards in it?" She looked positively nervous. Big change from the nosy busybody that had been there before.  
  
"Yep. Pretty much everyone. I've got a cousin or something that's an accountant, though." I added quickly. Her eyes had widened alarmingly when she heard that.  
  
"I don't suppose you might have any tips then? Do you know anything about Hogwarts?" She had relaxed slightly.   
  
"Loads of stuff. Only I'm not sure how much is true, Fred and George told me most of it."  
  
"Fred and George?" Hermione asked.  
  
"My brothers. Or two of them at least. I've got five. Plus my sister Ginny."  
  
"And you're all magical?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
She collapsed onto a seat. "I'm never going to be able to do well here, I know it!" She cried, covering her face with her hands. I remember being terrified she was going to cry. "I'm the first person in my family to go to Hogwarts, how am I ever going to survive surrounded by people who've grown up surrounded by magic?"  
  
"Hey, come on," I say awkwardly. I hate these kind of things, I never know if what I'm saying is making it worse or better. "I'm sure you'll do great."  
  
"Really?" Woah, that was a complete 180. Now she's smiling and all again.  
  
"Really." I assure her.   
  
"Wow. Thanks. Oh, there goes Trevor! Bye, er, Ron!"  
  
And she's gone again, just like that.  
  
Would you look at her   
  
While she looks at me  
  
She's got me thinking about her constantly  
  
But she don't know how I feel  
  
She may be the smartest witch in our class, but sometimes she seems completely clueless about everything going on around her.  
  
I remember once we were at the Leaky Cauldron, and she nearly wore herself out trying to guess what girl I liked.  
  
"Parvati? Lavender? Padma?"   
  
"No, no, definitely not after the Yule Ball." Maybe all she needed was a little reminder...  
  
"Hannah? I know not Eloise. Ginny's friend, Anita whatever?"  
  
Apparently she needed more than a little reminder...  
  
"Anita? Like I'd be seen dating a lowly fifth year. Though, some certain guys don't mind going after girls who're like, two years younger than them and asking them to dances and-"  
  
"You're horrible, you know that?" She smacked my arm. "Come on, who do you like?"  
  
"Do I get a guess?" Harry asked languidly, hiding behind the latest issue of Quidditch Monthly.  
  
"Ha, ha." I sneered, 'accidentally' knocking his mug of hot chocolate into his lap. "How about no?"  
  
He didn't really have a choice to answer, hopping up and down swatting at his pants, swearing at me. Hermione just gave us this look that she seemed to be giving more and more these days, whenever me and Harry did something stupid.  
  
"What about...Katie? Alicia? Angelina? Penny?"   
  
"Would you stop naming my brother's girlfriends?"  
  
As she carries on  
  
Without a doubt  
  
I wonder if she's figured out   
  
I'm crazy for this girl   
  
Yeah I'm crazy for this girl  
  
I sat on my bed and shook my head, trying to clear it of all the useless junk I've picked up over the years. I've memorized every move, every blink of her eyes, every wave in her hair. Still can't get a Shrinking Potion that works, but I know exactly how she holds her cauldron when she's filling it with water.   
  
I've watched her in almost every single class we have together. She's never gotten a wrong answer, even in Potions. She's the only non-Slytherin in that class getting better than a C (A/N: I have no knowledge of the grading system in European boarding schools. Someone email me if they know!).   
  
She knows everything. And she's not afraid to tell you so.  
  
She was the one to hold me  
  
The night the sky fell down  
  
And what was I thinking when  
  
The world didn't end  
  
Why didn't I know  
  
What I know now  
  
I rushed towards the hospital wing as soon as I'd heard what happened. She was already waiting outside, slumped against the door. She sprang up when she saw me.  
  
"Ron, you can't go in-" She started. I pushed her away and jiggled the door knob furiously.  
  
"Is he okay?" I cried. I raised my fist to start pounding on the door, but she grabbed my wrist.  
  
"Ron! There is nothing we can do now!" She said despretly, trying to get me to come to my senses. "Madame Pomfrey's in there, so are all the rest of the teachers, Snape's been working on a potion that they hope will bring him out of it. There's nothing we can do but wait."  
  
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not good at waiting!" I yelled at her. Every time I think about it, I feel sick. She looked scared of me. Me! She was scared of me. "I just don't want this to be the way it ends, when the last thing I ever said to him was, "Bug off, Percy, I don't want to talk to you.' I'm the reason he left the common room, I'm the reason he was walking outside, I'm the reason for everything! I need to talk to him now, I want to!"  
  
I raised my hand to pound again, and almost hit Snape, who'd just opened the door. He wiped his brow with his sleeve, then said, "He will be okay. But-" He snapped quickly, cutting off my cry of joy. "He needs lots of rest, and that means no visitors until at least tomorrow."  
  
I didn't care. I was so happy I actually threw my arms around Snape and hugged him. He stiffened but didn't push me off him for a moment.  
  
"Do not ever do that again, Weasley, or twenty points will be taken off Gryffindor for molesting a teacher." He snapped the door shut again, muttering about being surrounded by lunatics.  
  
I was so happy, I didn't even notice that Snape had made a joke. I grabbed Hermione's hands and spun her around. "Percy's gonna be alright! Percy's gonna be alright! Percy's-" I stopped suddenly. "Did I hug Snape?"  
  
Would you look at her   
  
While she looks at me  
  
She's got me thinking about her constantly  
  
But she don't know how I feel  
  
As she carries on  
  
Without a doubt  
  
I wonder if she's figured out   
  
I'm crazy for this girl   
  
Yeah I'm crazy for this girl  
  
It's almost ridiculous how into her I am. Any psychiatrist would label me obsessive.  
  
One summer, at three in the morning, I took Harry's invisibility cloak and snuck into Ginny's room with it, and watched Hermione sleep for over four hours.   
  
I would have stayed all day, but when Ginny's alarm went off at 7:00, it scared the shit out of me, and I ran.  
  
Right now (right now)  
  
Face to face (face to face)  
  
All my fears  
  
Pushed aside  
  
And right now  
  
I'm ready to spend the rest of my life  
  
With you  
  
A tapping at my window scared the shit out of me too.  
  
"Errol!" I cried. "What are you doing back already?"  
  
There was a note tied to his leg. He couldn't have gotten to Hermione's and back already. My worst fear seemed to be coming true. Someone else had found Errol half-conscious, read the note, and is writing back to harass me about it.  
  
I pulled the note off his leg, silently praying for it to not be what I thought it was.  
  
There were only two words on the paper...  
  
"Turn around?" I read. "What the-"  
  
"Just do it you idiot."   
  
I looked up from the note, but didn't turn around. After six years, I've memorized her voice. How could I not? I heard it every day.  
  
Would you look at her   
  
While she looks at me  
  
She's got me thinking about her constantly  
  
But she don't know how I feel  
  
"How did you-" I started, but she cut me off.   
  
"I had just arrived by Floo powder downstairs when Errol comes staggering in the window towards me. You really should just retire him and let him die in peace."  
  
"I, uh..." I suddenly remembered why she was here. "Did you, uh...read it?"  
  
She didn't say anything, just walked towards me, wrapped her arms around my neck, and...  
  
As she carries on  
  
Without a doubt  
  
I wonder if she's figured out   
  
I'm crazy for this girl   
  
Yeah I'm crazy for this girl  
  
We were so lost in the moment, we didn't even notice the rest of my brothers and Ginny standing there watching us from my bedroom door.  
  
"They're going to be sickening by the end of summer." Charlie muttered.  
  
"Yeah."   
  
"Snogging every second."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Harry's going to be the odd man out for once."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Ginny, are you listening to me?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Purple elephants are flying out of my nose."  
  
"Yeah." Ginny sighed. Two seconds later she spun around. "What?"  
  
Would you look at her   
  
While she looks at me  
  
She's got me thinking about her constantly  
  
But she don't know how I feel  
  
As she carries on  
  
Without a doubt  
  
I wonder if she's figured out   
  
I'm crazy for this girl   
  
Yeah I'm crazy for this girl  
  
A/N: *Hurk!* That would be me gagging on how sweet this is. It's more sugary than those little chicks they only have at Easter. Peeps. The beaks are the only part worth eating. 


End file.
